[Crafting] Back to the Cutting Board [Closed]

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Ame looked down at the items she had purchased. It seemed as though she had everything she needed to make the goodies she was about to prepare. Her first item on the list? Steak burgers, the perfect thing for a day at the beach. She bit her lip as she looked down at the ground up steak, the buns topped with sesame seeds, a tomato and lettuce. She had also purchased some barbeque sauce to add to the flavor. Her next item of business? Smores, though they couldn't roast the marshmallows themselves, she had wanted to bring something sweet along. Gram crackers, marshmallows and chocolate. She also had a side dish that she had to make, one that had nothing to do with the beach, but she had offered to make a dwarf character, by the name of Tobin, a food of his choice for teaching her animal taming, and though she hadn't known what it was at first, she quickly found a Lander that had known about it. His choice of food? Bread Pudding. Bread, butter, milk and vanilla extract. She literally had her work 'cut' out for her, and she knew she had to get started. Time was moving fast and she needed to get at least her first two items finished by the time she met with Balore. She had everything she needed to make everything she wanted too. She stretched her arms out and tilted her neck to either side then sat down on her cushion after grabbing everything she would need.

Steak burgers, okay. First order of business, heat the grill! She threw a couple of logs on the fire of the stone oven she often used and took the chunk of ground steak. She ripped off four individual pieces and began to pat them down, making them into round patties, just like a regular burger. She recalled Balore saying that he liked his steak medium rare but she thought it would be foolish to bring a plate of steak to the beach, but she also wanted to make him what he had asked for. She felt a grin touch her face and she patted down the next patty, then the next, and finished off the last one. She threw the four on the grill and washed her hands. She took her cutting board and, with a straight knife, cut into the tomato, slicing off four decent sized slice and then began to eat on the of the end pieces. She wouldn't use those, as she wanted to have a nice appearance to them, and the ends often made the top of the bun slip off of the burger, she found at least. She turned her body and flipped the burgers, then took the barbeque sauce she had bought and put some on the top, spreading it with a soft bristled brush, you know, the kind you barbeque with? She put the brush aside and grabbed for the lettuce. She cleaned off her cutting board and prepared to cut it.

*Words: 505*

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She grabbed the knife, wiping away any access tomato juice and cut the bottom of the lettuce off, leaving her with the leaves. She cut them in twos, not wanting them to overtake the bun too much, and them set it aside. She grabbed the four buns she had purchased and cut them in half, laying them out on the table. She put the barbeque sauce on the bottom of the buns and turned to the grill. She took her spatula and checked the bottom of the patty. They seemed to be just about finished. She waited for a few minutes, humming happily to herself and then grabbed her spatula. She flipped the burgers over and added a little bit of sauce to the other sides, using the brush to spread it like she had before. She knew she had a few minutes before she had to take them off, so she went and put the dishes that she would no longer need into the sink to soak. She went back over to the grill, the room beginning to smell of cooked meat and took her spatula, placing each of the patties on the four buns. They were fairly large patties and she knew she would only eat one, but she had wanted to make extra's, in case Balore decided he wanted seconds. She felt herself smiling at the thought. Her mother always told her that she was a house wife at heart, but she denied it every time.

She took two of the slices of lettuce and placed them each carefully on top of the patty. She wanted there to be a defined taste of lettuce, without it overpowering the meat. She then took up the tomatoes and placed one on each of the burgers. She took the rest of the barbeque sauce and put a bit more on the tops of the bun. She then placed the tops on top of the tomatoes and stared at the burgers. She hadn't said anything to him when he had said he didn't want to leave this world, but, she felt the same way. If they were to get sent back today, she doubted she could ever find him again and the thought made her feel sad. She wanted to know him, in this world and the other, so that she could contact him if they were to ever go back. She wondered if he would be alright with that, but then she shook her head. 'You haven't even gone on the date yet, stop making such big plans..' She sighed and then placed the four burgers in wrappings. "I hope he likes them." She knew that he would, it was really her that she hoped he liked. She felt her cheeks flush, happy that no one was around to see it. She let out a small giggle at herself and went to the sink to wash the dishes. She put them all away and sat back down. On to the next one.

*Words: 502*

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Ame knew that the next item on her list of things to make wouldn't require a lot of skill, and she had sort of wished that she had chosen something a little more difficult to make, but, she wanted to keep it simple, so that she wouldn't tire herself out. Balore had asked her if she wanted some gold for the items, but she didn't. She wanted the food to be all of her, mainly because she was making it for him. She giggled, remembering that he told her that he would think of the next place to go, confirming that they would, indeed, have a second date. The thought made her heart pound against her chest and the flush, still there, became an even darker shade of pink. She just couldn't picture anyone being happier than she felt at that moment and anticipated their date with every passing moment. She wondered what he would think of her bathing suit, and hoped that she had chosen one he would like. It made her blush thinking about it, as the Lander who had made it for her had added a few, extra things to make it a little more 'sexy' than she had anticipated. She was going to blush when he saw her, she just knew it. She sighed happily as she took the graham crackers out. Perhaps she had gone a little over board, but she had enough to make 9 smores. She shrugged her shoulders, knowing that if she absolutely needed them, as in ran out of mana potions, they would be a quick snack to regain her MP, which was never a bad thing, especially in her case.

She laid out nine of the crackers on the table. These would be the bottoms of the smores. She then took out the chocolate, noticing that, like milk chocolate bars in the real world, they were separated into individual sized squares placed by twos in each row. She had wanted to try her hand at making her own chocolate, but again, she wanted to keep it simple. Maybe if their was a similar day to Valentine's day in Elder Tale, she would try her hand at it then, but for now, she would make do with the store bought chocolate. She cut the chocolate into four square sizes and placed them on each individual cracker. She wondered if Balore liked smores, then again, who didn't? Not any one she had ever met, though she was sure there had to be people who didn't like them. There was always at least one person who didn't like something. She tilted her head, wondering if there was anything she didn't like, but then shrugged, not able to think of anything. She wasn't a very picky person, especially when it came to food, though, she wondered if she was picky with her men. The one she had chosen had been good looking, and seemingly nice, but he had turned out to be one hell of a jerk. She thought Balore was handsome, enough to make her act like an idiot, but she doubted that he was a jerk, or she hoped not anyways. She let out a small smile. No, he wasn't a jerk, she could just tell. Once the chocolate was all laid out, she reached for the marshmallows.

*Words: 556*

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Ame took a marshmallow out of the bag. She had bought a few extras so that she could, she popped one in her mouth, eat a few as she made them. She let out a small laugh and placed each of the marshmallows on top of the chocolate. They had to be standing up so that when she heated them, they would squish properly, or else, they usually made a big mess. She cleaned the grill with a hard brush so that any left over residue from the barbeque sauce, or steak, wouldn't be left on and become taint on the smore. She liked her food to have their individual taste. She wasn't a follow the books or recipe guides kind of girl, and often liked to mix and match things, but she didn't want to make smores that tasted like the lunch they would consume. That would just be silly. Once it was clean, she took the first towering smore and put it on the grill, then followed it with each of the nine she had made. She waited a few minutes, until the chocolate seemed to be melting nicely, and then took the first on off of the heat. She popped the top on it, pressing down to make the marshmallow squish and then flipped it, putting the top side down on the grill. She would follow this suit eight more times and then wait a few moments.

She watched as the chocolate began to mess slightly with the marshmallows, and at this point, she took them all off of the heat. She sat, waiting for them to cool a little and seemed to lose herself in thought. She sighed as her mind slipped back to the date she was going to have. She hoped that they would have a good time but then her cheeks went pink as she thought about what normally happened at the end of dates when you had a good time. She felt herself put her forehead on the table and she stared down at her crossed legs. She realized then that, if all was successful, then Balore might, might kiss her. She felt her eyes widen and then she forced them closed. She hadn't even had her first kiss yet. What if he had that kind of experience, and she didn't. Would she be horrible at it? Now, she was mentally freaking out. 'This is bad, this is very, very bad.' She took her head up and opened her eyes. "How hard could a kiss be, really? I mean, you just.." She felt her lips pucker and she blushed with a shake of her head. "No, don't do strange things like that." She let out a nervous laugh and began wrapping the smores, trying to take her mind off f her own thoughts. It seemed to have worked as she finished up the last one. She was ready for her date, sort of, but she had one more thing let to cook. "Back to the cutting board." She smiled and literally went back tot he cutting board and then back to the sink to wash up.

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Okay, now was Ame's last and final task for the three item adventure. This one would be a serious test of her own cooking skills as it would be her first time making it. Bread Pudding. Seemed simple enough, though how simple could this simple dish simply be? The recipe, given to her by an older Lander at the Market, seemed like it was an easy task and she really hoped it would be. She only had enough ingredients to make one batch of it, and it would give her five plates in total, so she wanted to get it right, so that she herself could have some extra to try. She got to it, putting a small log on the fire as to preheat the stone oven then pulled out some of the bread she had had leftover. The recipe called for day old bread, and that it was, so the began to rip it into small pieces, laying it out in a glass pan that Lynn had laying around. She put a small brick of butter into a separate pot and put it over the fire, letting the butter melt. She waited a few moments, continuously checking and even putting a spoon in every once and a while to stir it. Once it was finished melting fully, she lifted the pot off and began to pour the butter onto the bread, letting it settle for a moment before she added the raisins, spreading them out in a thin sheet over the bread and butter.

She took her next set of ingredients. Milk, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, and finally, her left over vanilla extract. She was happy to have a bit left after her last excursion with it. It would cut her cost down a small amount too. She added the eggs into a bowl, then the milk, followed with the sugar, cinnamon and vanilla, but just a small amount of that last one for flavor. She took her favored whisk and began to beat the eggs with the rest of the ingredients until it was a smooth spread and then she poured the mixture over it. She was pretty much done, and had so much time to spare. Perhaps she should have waited to make the smores at the same time, it probably would have been a little more time consuming, though probably not. Oh well, she could go out and find something else to do if she was really up for the task. Before she could even think about it, she needed to get this task done. She didn't know when she would see Tobin again, but she wanted to be prepared for when she would, so, back to work she went.

Once everything was mixed up nicely, she poured the batter on top. The elderly Lander had told her to use a fork to push down on the bread so that the egg mixture can caress it and soak it up, so she did that. She took the fork and carefully pressed on the bread, making sure the egg batter was getting into each and every spot. She would not have a dry part of this bread pudding, not if she could help it. She must be a perfectionist in everything, or try her hardest anyways, it was a part of being herself, something she wouldn't let slip away from her. She expected greatness and gave greatness and this bread pudding would be no amount less than greatness. Okay, so she was just filling in time before she was finished, but that was alright, it gave her more AP in the end. Once she was finished that step, she put the fork down and tilted her head. She sure hoped it looked better when it was cooked, cause it was looking like mushy bread to her.

*Words: 639*

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Now, it was time to add a few more raisins into the mix, and off into the oven the bread pudding went. The Lander had told her forty- five minutes baking time, but, what was she going to do for forty- five minutes before it was cooked?! Well, she started off by setting the small timer, so that she wouldn't miss the time. One thing she did not want to do, was over cook it. She then took the dishes over to the sink and washed them all. In her eyes, there was only one thing when cooking that was more time consuming than the actual cooking time, and that was washing the dishes and putting them away, which took her no time at all in this case. Ten minutes later, she still had twenty- five minutes to go. She sat back down in her normal, comfortable spot and sighed, putting her hand on her cheek. She began to think about her life, the old the new, something she found that she did often, but it was never a bad idea to reflect on things, especially if they were bothersome.

She thought about her time spent with the funny monk dwarf that had become her mentor in animal training. His personality was off the charts, in her eyes, but not in a bad way. He was a really funny fellow, and the fact that Spoticus mirrored his voice slightly made her let out a soft giggle. Where was the little runt, now that she thought about it. He had run off, telling her to call him when she needed him. Oh, that Spoticus.. She knew she had to get another animal, and she desperately wanted a female Enemic Buster, just to settle him down and get his mind off of her. He continuously called her waifu, whatever that meant. Wait, Tobin had used that word in the wedding ceremony. She put her hand to her forehead and slapped it, rather hard by accident. Spoticus was calling her his wife?! Oh Lord, she would have to have a talk to that rabbit of hers. She wondered what he would think of Mamori, the sweet Myobu Kitsune she had taken home from a newer village known as Moon Dance Village. She had visited not too long ago with her new friends Hiro and Inori, and mentor Tobin had been there as well. Turns out, there was a disruption in the village and they had been led there to lend a hand.

Hiro and herself had stayed the night there as they had asked the adventurers for some further help. It was there that she had been put up against many new monsters, and met the golden three tailed Kitsune. Mamori had called her sister, and still continued to do so. She was currently sleeping in the bed Ame had made for her out of old cloth garments given by Lynn. She smiled softly and then thought about her guild mates, Balore and Lavinia. They hadn't met either of her pets yet, but knew that the time would come very soon. She wondered if they would like each other, though Spoticus would probably try to fight Balore, a fight he would definitely lose, so she had to make sure that didn't happen. She sighed, letting out a soft giggle. As soon as the small rabbit saw how she was with him, he would get worried and probably say she was cheating on her or something. Aah, the poor rabbit. She knew she would have to call him soon, to let him meet Kitsune, hopefully he didn't find an attraction in her, but the perverted little rabbit probably would. She sighed and shook her head. Maybe she should have tried to take one of the Nobitsune Kitsune's as well, for Mamori. Why were her thoughts always on romance, or something of the like?

The timer dinged, making her jump a little, and she rushed over to the bread pudding, taking it off of the heat, and carefully removing it from the hot container. She stared at it in amazement. It actually looked really good! She smiled widely, and then sat, staring at it as it cooled. She wondered if she should have made some sort of icing, maybe cheesecake icing, to drizzle over top, but sadly, she hadn't thought about it. She normally like to put a spin on things if she was going to cook, but because the dessert was something that she hadn't cooked before, she figured it would be best to at least try it first, before trying to meddle. She shrugged, and once it was cooled, she took down four plates, and set the pudding on a cutting board. She cut decently thick slices and plated them, putting a few extra raisins around it for decorative purposes, as she was an artist with food, or so she liked to think. She smiled at the plates and nodded. Now she would be prepared for her next encounter with the Dwarf! It excited her to think of sharing the food she made, and this was something that he had specifically asked for, so she hoped that he would like it, above all else!

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